By Spencer Grant, Special to the Independent
Having a hard time parking now that local restaurants are taking up Forest Avenue Promenade sidewalk space? Annoyed at getting locked out of the swimming pool? Believe it or not, with song and dance, the No Square Theater’s Lagunatics will make you laugh at these frustrations as they stage the aptly named Laughing Matters at the Historic Legion Hall. They’ve tickled Laguna’s funny bone for over three decades.
“Laguna Beach is just full of nonsense,” said Ella Wyatt, the show’s artistic director. “Everything is inspired by events that happened in Laguna this year. If you want to laugh, this is the show to come to.”
“You might call it a revue, but it’s more in the style of a burlesque show,” director Bree Burgess Rosen said.
The show has 24 stories, each satirically addressing local incidents and characters. Music by acclaimed authors is accompanied by homegrown lyrics by five writers, so Irving Berlin’s “Puttin’ On the Ritz” becomes “Sittin’ Round the Pits” and “Beauty School Dropout” from the musical Grease becomes “Swimming Pool Lockout.” Another number highlights a mini drone show about the Fourth of July where there was a drone show instead of fireworks.
Sixteen cast members will act out the skits, each taking multiple roles. Regina Hartley explained she was acting eight parts and added, “It’s like therapy” to play them.
“There’s a number about parking,” said Burgess Rosen. “It’s a parody of a song from Spamalot: “Whatever happened to my parking spot? This used to be a parking lot.” This being an election year, there will be skewing of elected officials. “Yes, but we stay in the center and stick to local politics. We don’t touch national.”
“There’s such a strong variety of things going on. It’s not one single story like a musical. The unifying theme is that all these events took place in Laguna Beach this year: rainbow flag, lifeguard tower, our mayor pro tem,… It’s all things people have gotten cranky about, like the woman who chased tourists off Victoria Beach and how hard it’s been to get a permit for our sign outside the theater.”
Ideas for the show often come unsolicited. “You don’t even need to open NextDoor to find topics,” Burgess Rosen said. “People call, sometimes at six in the morning. People in the community will point things out to me.” The whole town’s involved.
According to choreographer Sabrina Harper, “It’s exciting, It’s adventurous. It requires a lot of creativity because I need to find creative movements that fit the actors: how does a goat dance? How would a bee dance? How would you dance around the fire pits to “Puttin’ on the Ritz?” I need to ask performers, what is your comfort zone? How do you like to move? I don’t put them in a situation where they’d panic.”
Rufino Cabang, the show’s master of ceremonies, reminds us, “We have to remember that laughing matters. This is very serious time in the world for a lot of people, so Lagunatics is always about joy and laughter and a little bit of skewing about what’s funny around us. I’d call it a revue or maybe a roast. It’s revue in that it has a lot of different numbers – it’s a variety show in a sense – but it’s also a way for the cast and the creative team to reach out to the community and show what we have to offer.”
Nothing and no one is off-limits. “I understand there is a number about me. I am thrilled and mortified,” said Laguna’s Mayor Pro Tem Alex Rounaghi.
Call it a burlesque, a revue or “The Roast of the Coast.” By whatever name, it’s Laguna’s own special show, celebrating the city’s many triumphs and foibles in song.
There will be 10 performances of Laughing Matters on Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 13, including a special, adapted, sensory-friendly performance on Oct. 5. ($10 special admission). Regular ticket prices range from $35-$55 plus $125 for a gala fundraiser at 5 p.m. Oct. 13. Check the company website at nosquare.org for details.
In addition to Laughing Matters, the company has a full schedule for 2024-2025. Upcoming productions include Keep It Gay, the theater’s first pride concert on Nov. 15 to 16; She Loves Me by Jerry Brock and Sheldon Harnick of Fiddler on the Roof fame, Dec. 7 to 15; and The Underpants by Carl Sternheim, adapted by Steve Martin, June 20 to 29, 2025.
Susan Geiser will teach a musical theater workshop on Wednesdays from Oct. 2 to Nov. 20. Children aged six to 14 are welcome, regardless of their experience.
